Creating a Melee Weapon Skin

With the way our melee weapons are set up, we are able to do complete mesh swaps for them per weapon type! This lets our players use these skins for a variety of melees.

A large number of our melee weapon types are now available in the workshop for you to customize! They must have the same scale and the “business end” pointing in the right direction, but you otherwise have creative freedom. The Skana could be reskinned to be a Corpus energy sword and the Jat Kittag could be an Infested abomination.

Modeling for games is well beyond the scope of these guides. It certainly isn't rocket science, but it is the type of skill where you need more than a few hours to get the results you want. Luckily we live in a time with fabulous education resources available, and we recommend you pursue independent research on how to get the most out of your tools.

Weapons With Special Guidelines:

• Blade and Whip
• Whip
• Sparring / Fist / Claws (see below)

Technical Specs:

• Triangle budget:
  • 3,500 for a one-handed weapon (Skana, Rapier, etc.)
  • 7,500 for two-handed or for dual-wielded weapons (Galatine, Kronen, etc.)
  • For dual-wielded weapons, both weapons need to total a maximum of 7,500 tris.
• Maps: Authored at 2048 x 1024.
  • In-game resolution: 1024 x 512.
• Requires a full set of textures as per our texturing guide here.
  • Non-Metals at roughly 50% luminance, or 128 on a 255 point scale.
  • Metals at roughly 80% luminance, or 186 on a 255 point scale.
• The hilt and blade lengths need to match that of the original weapon to allow for the animations to line up properly.
  • That means hand positions need to be the same (which are done relative to world 0,0,0).
  • Weapon dimensions should roughly the same scale for both length and diameter.
  • Blades or striking ends should be pointing in the correct direction.
  • TIP: Keep the original model visible as you work on your concept so you can easily refer to the proportions and positions!
• If you want to add a special scrolling texture to your emissives, you need to provide us with the file!
• For custom FX, please make sure it’s set up on a separate mesh that fits within the triangle budget, with its own material set/UV unwrap.

Sparring, Fist, and Claw Weapons:

Most melee weapons are held in the Warframe’s hand, but there are a few categories that are directly attached to your Warframe: Claws, Sparring, and Fist weapons.

• These weapons cover the back of the hand (and top of the feet, for Sparring weapons) and cannot obstruct the movement of the wrist (or ankle).
• Claws: these weapons have an additional retracting motion that needs to be considered. These weapons are made of two parts with separate meshes: the glove, and the claw blades. The claw blades are scaled down to retract into the glove — make sure the star of the show is your glove, as that will be the most visible part of the weapon!
• Make sure you name your files appropriately for the left- and right-hand (and -feet) versions for these weapons.
  • Example: ClawsR.fbx and ClawsL.fbx

Aesthetically:

• Like all other TennoGen pieces, Weapon Skins must be based on a Faction. We recommend looking at other weapons in that Faction for further inspiration, and to ensure you’re bringing a fresh idea to the game!
• For weapons with moving elements or sheaths, think of how the item will look in both states. TennoGen creations are premium items, so your piece should look great while in use and also while stowed.
• Ensure your skin includes design elements from its chosen Faction!
• Do not use gold as the metal color (unless allowed in the Faction guidelines).
• Keep the construction of this piece in mind — how would it have been made? How do the various elements work together?
  • Simple panels and “toothpaste-y” swirls do not meet the detail level you’d see in-game.
  • Complex layers of materials are necessary to make this item fit in-universe.
  • Here’s an example of this complexity, when applied to Tenno metal details.
    https://imgur.com/BlBV8hc
• Avoid pop culture, copyrighted, or otherwise out-of-universe references, as outlined in our Common Reasons for Rejection.

Checklist:

Prior to submission, please refer to the handy checklist below to make sure your Melee Weapon Skin meets all the TennoGen criteria: